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The 

Service  Bulletin 

of  the 
Bureau  of  Personnel  Research 

H.  G.  KENAGY,  Editor 


Vol.   4 


NOVEMBER,  1921 


No.  2 


The  Bureau 

exists 

to  serve 

business 

organizations 

in  the 

SELECTION 

TRAINING 

and 

SUPERVISION 

of 
PERSONNEL 


In  this  Issue: 

THE  MANAGEMENT  OF  A  BRANCH 
SALES  AGENCY: 

An  Analysis  of  Facts  From  Ten 
National  Sales  Organizations 

By 
H.  W.  McINTIRE 


The  Division  of  Cooperative  Research 
Carnegie  Institute  of  Technology,  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 


THE  MANAGEMENT  OF  A  BRANCH  SALES  AGENCY 


An  Analysis  of  Facts  From  Ten 
National  Sales  Organizations 


Prepared  by 

H.  ¥.  Mo  Intiro 
'/ 

The  Bureau  of  Personnel  Research 
Carnegie   Institute  of  Technology 


November  1921 
All  rights  reserved. 


:•  •  •    • 


•♦•  •  •«•«  *••  •  • 


..'.*,• 


FOREWORD 


The  "job  analysis"  method  has  made 
a  place  for  itself  in  the  management  of  shops, 
factories  ind  offices.  Very  clearly  has  it 
shcrn  thr.t  the  systematic  description  of  a 
man's  vork,  in  its  fundamentals,  can  aid  the 
executive  in  many  directions. 

Believing  that  this  method  of 
studying  occupations  snd  jobs  should  not  be 
limited  to  the  vork  of  the  mechanic,  the 
operative,  and  the  office  employee,  Mr. 
Mclntire  has  blazed  a  trail  for  the  alert 
sales  executive,  by  making  a  comparative 
analysis  of  the  work  done  by  branch  sales 
managers.. 

The  number  of  agencies  with  -vhich 
he  worked  is  toe  limited,  and  the  methods  are 
too  young,  to  justify  general  conclusions. 
But  his  preliminary  results  as  presented  here 
are  at  least  suggestive  of  a  fertile  field  of 
investigation  ahead  of  us. 


C.  S.  Yoakum, 
Director. 


524U45 


TABLE  OF  C02!TE?JTS. 

Pases 


Introduction:   Purpose  of  tho  Investigation  of 

Branch  Sales  Manager  '  s  Job .        ....    ... 

I.  The  Relation  Between  the  Degree  of  a  Manager's 

Responsibility  ~nd  his  Working  Methods 3 

II.  The  Distribution  of"  I>,ch  Manager's  Tine    . . 4 

III.  The  Assistance  "eceivod  fron  the  Hone  Office    6 

IV.  Methods  of  Hiring  Salesmen     7 

V.     Developing  Salesmen 8 

1.  "Breaking  In"  !Tev;  Men     '. 8 

2.  Field  Supervision 9 

3 .  lad ividua  1  Office  Coherences 9 

6 .  Checking  Da  ily  Reports 9 

5.  Supervising  the  Training:  Program      10 

VI .  Stimulating  Sal  e snen     ........... 11 

VII.  The  Remuneration  Of  Salesmen 13 

VTO.  Sales  Promotion  Activities 15 

1.  Unique  ^alas  Promotion  Methods  of  One  Manager   ..  15 

2 .  Analyzing  Territory     16 

3.  Participating  in  Social  Affairs  of  Business  Men  17 

6 .  Ss  le  s  Letter  s 17 

5 .  Meeting  Competition 17 

6.  Sales  Campaigns 17 

7.  Local  Advertising 18 

IX.  Direct  Selling 18 

X.  Financial  Duties 18 

XI.  What  Are  the  Most  Difficult  Phases  Of  X  Branch 

Manager  '  s  i'rork?  19 

XII.  In  What  Respects  Does  Each  Manager  Have  Good 

Methods?  ... '. 20 

Conclusions 22 


-2- 


INTRODUCTION: 


PURPOSE  CF  THE  ANALYSIS  OF  THE  BRANCH  MANAGER'S  JOB. 


A  well-known  sales  organization  was  in  need  of  a  manager  for 
one  of   its  largest  branch  offices.     The  general  sales  manager  selected 
as  "the  logical  man  for  the  place"  the   successful  manager  of  a   small 
branch,  ivho  had  made  an  exceptionally  good  production  record  and  showed 
ability  in  dealing  with  financial  matters. 

The  promoted  manager,  however,   proved  to  be  a  partial  failure 
in  his  new  job.     Most  of  his  best  salesmen  quit;   his  production  record 
slumped.     An  investigation  revealed  the  fact  that  he  lacked  ability  to 
control  and  direct  men.     Ke  had  :,iade  good  in  the   smaller  branoh  because 
his  salesmen  were  scattered  over  a  provincial  territory,   so  that  he  did 
not  make  many  personal  contacts  with  them.     In  the  larger  branch, 
personal  leadership  of  a  rather  large  force  of  city  salesmen  was  neces^ 
sary  -  a  task  that  was  beyond  his  natural  ability. 

The   sales  manager  who  promoted  this  man  had  not  carefully 
determined  the  qualifications  of  a   successful  manager  of  a  city  branch, 
or  he  would  have  considered  more  the  manager's  ability  to  handle  men, 
and  less  his  financial  ability.     Furthermore,  he  was  not  using  enough 
different  "measuring  sticks"   in  sizing  up  his  branch  managers.     He  had 
not  made  a   study  of  the  qualifications  needed  in  the  new  job. 

There  are   several    important  reasons  why  the  job  of  a  branch 
sales  manager  should  be   systematically  analyzed  and  described.     Among 
these  might  be  mentioned  the  following: 

1.  A  job  analysis  determines  the  qualifications  necessary 
for  the  success  of  branch  managers,  and  thus  leads  to  improved  methods 
of  selecting  and  promoting  manrgers. 

2.  It  places  at  the  disposal  of  all  managers  the  practical 
methods  which  certain  successful  managers  have   learned  by  experience, 
and  thus  furnishes  the  best  possible  means  of  developing  both  the 
experienced  ond  the   inexperienced  m:'n».gcrs. 

3.  It  provides   standards  for  measuring  a  manager's  efficien~y. 

4.  It  helps  solve  the  problems  of  sales  organization. 

In  making  a   job  analysis  by  a   study  of  the  actual  work  and. 
functions  of  branch  managers,  the  investigator  gets  his  best  data  from 
successful  managers.     But  to  determine   in  what  .rays  and  to  what  degree 
various  managers  are   successful   requires  cr.refui  preliminary  work.     In 
most  cases,   production  records  furnish  a  good  measure  of  a  man's 
general  ability,   particularly  when  he  has  held  the  job  for   several  years. 
But  they  do  not  throw  much  light  on  his   special  abilities.     A  good 
manager  might  have   some  weak  spots,  and  a  man  of  mediocre  caliber  might 
be  exceptionally  capable  along  certain  lines.     Therefore,    in  analyzing 
the  job,  the  investigator  needs  many  different  means  for  judging  the 
manager's  success  in  such  phases  of  Ms  job  as  hiring   salesmen,- 
conducting   salesmen's  aeetings,  breaking  in  new  men,  making  collections, 
sending  out  sales  letters,  analyzing  certain  territories  and  other   activities. 


-3- 


A  COMPARATIVE  ANALYSIS  0?  THB  JOBS  CF  THE  PITTSBURGH 

brakch  BESSSEEB  of  ten  a&LSS  organizations  . 


The  facts  reported  end  analyzed  in  the  following  pages  were 
obtained  through  interviews  with  the  Pittsburgh  branch  managers  of  ten 
prominent  office  specialty  sales  organisations*     The  investigation 
therefore  has  xbe  advantages  and  the  disadvantages  of  representing  the 
branch  Managers  own  observations  r-nd  analysis  of  his  work.     As  all  of 
these  managers  are  located  in  the  Pittsburgh  territory,    some  comparisons 
are  justified  by  the  similarity  of  their  territorial  conditions. 

In  interviewing  the  managers,  the   investigator  made  use  of  a 
standard  "job  outline"  for  all  features  of  the  branch  manager's  work. 
This  outline  was  particularly  useful  at  the  first  interview  with  a 
branch  manager,   because   it  helped  to  locate  quickly  thoso  phases  of  the 
job  in  which  he  excelled.     Later   interviews  with  that  manager  wore  then 
focustsed  en  these   items. 

There  are,   of  covrse,  r.any  other  methods  that  might  be 
followed  in  studying  the  loc.l  manager's  job.     Some  of  these  would  be: 

(1)  observations  by  the  investigator  of  the  manager's  working  methods, 

(2)  interviews  with  general  and  district  sales  managers;    (3)  analysis  of 
home  office  records  on  branch  managers.;    (4)   interviews  with  their   sales- 
men;   (5)  field  observation  of  the   salesmen's  work;    (6)  conventions  of 
branch  managers;    (7)   interviews  with  a  branch  manager's  competitors;    (8) 
magazines,  books  and  home  offloe  literature  on  sales  management;   and  (9) 
interviews  with  users  and  prospective  buyers.     These  methods  of  attacking 
the  whole    subject  would  undoubtedly  be  of  value  for  a  comprehensive  point 
of  view. 

I.   THE  RELATION  BETWEEN  THE  DEGREE  OF  A  MAiIAGER'3 
RESPONSIBILITY  S35  HIS  TORI'.IWC  METHODS. 


The  work  of  the  ten  managers  varies  considerably  in  the 
number  of  persons  under  their  direction,  the  complexity  of  their  work, 
their  responsibility  and  mary  other  respects.      In  this  report,  the 
managers  are  respectively  assigned  numbers  and  ranks  on  the  following 
basis:     the  manager  whose  work  is  most  complex  and  responsible  is 
designated  Manager  1.  the  next  in  rank  is  called  Lianager  2,  and  so  on, 
to  Manager   10,  whose  job  is  leas4-,  responsible.     Manager  1  has  a  total 
of  37  employees,  handles  all  his  own  finances,  makes  his  own  collections, 
etc. 

The  number  of  men  in  the  sales  force  of  each  manager   is  as 
follows:     Manager  1,   9  salesmen;   Onager  2,   19  salesmen;   Man-ger  3,   10 
salesmen;   Manager  4  8  salesmen;  Manager  5,   7  salesmen;  Manager  6,   2 
salesmen;   Manager  7,  5  salesmen;  Manager  9,  4  salesmen;  Manager  9,  4 
salesmen;   and  Manager  10,   1  salesman. 

The  a-aount  of  time  th-rt  the  managers  expect  to  devote  to 
direct  selling  and  sales  promotion  activities  shows  considerable 
diversity.     Manager  1  assigns  Z5%  of  his  time  to  these  activities; 


-4- 

Manager  2,   30^;  Manager  3,  2C$;   Manager  4,   1Z%»  Manager  5,  60&  Manager 
6,  4:7%i   and  the  remaining  managers,   each  75??. 

Managers  6,  8  and  10  reserve  for  themselvos  a  definite  part 
of  their  branch  territories  and  devote  part  of  their  time  to  direct 
selling.     In  other  word3,  they  work  for  themselvos  as  part-time   sales- 
men.    One  of  these  three  men  reserves  certn. in  large  firms  in  the 
industrial  section  of  the  city  for  himself. 

The  distribution  of  work,   generally  speaking,   indicates  that 
in  those  branch^:,  which  have  less  managerial  responsibility,  the  managors 
believe   that  th?   vuickest  way  to  increase  their  earnings  is  to  spend 
considerable  time   in  direct  selling  and   sales  promotion,  particularly  the 
former . 


II.    THE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  EACH  MAIL\GER*S  TIME. 


The  first  table   shows  the  per  cent  of  time  each  manager  allots 
to  the  five  main  divisions  of  his  job.     Managers  are  designated  in  the 
first  row  by  key  numbers  instead  of  by  names. 


TABLE  Is      PRESENT  DISTRIBUTION  OF  EACH  IMAGERS  TIME. 


rManager ' s  Number 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

:  V)    : 

: Personnel 

15 

60. 

40 

2C- 

15 

10 

15 

20 

50 

5  : 

: Office  Routine 

10 

,   5 

i 

20 

50 

15 

20 

7 

20 

25 

30  : 

:  Financial 

40 

5 

20 

3 

3 

3 

3 

5 

7 

3  : 

: Selling 

5 

30 

10 

10 

50 

50 

70 

45 

8 

60  : 

iSalee  Promotion 

30 

10 

17 

15 

17 

5  . 

10  : 

10 

Z    : 

Table  2     shows  how  those  rnnagors  plan  to  distribute  their 
time  in  the  future: 


-5- 


TABLE  2:   FUTURE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  TIME. 


Manager ' s  Number 

1 

2 

3 

4 

•  5 

C  6:        7 

8 

9 

3-0    : 

Personnel 

10 

30 

25^ 

10 

10 

10    : 

Office  Routine 

Bo 

Changes. 

No 
Changes 

No 
Changes 

15 

5 

;!JO 

20: Changes 

10 

10- 

15    : 

Financial 

'    4 
1 

i 
I 

3 

3 

3- 

5 

5: 

3   : 

Se  1 1 ing 

22 

30 

22  r 

65. 

7fl 

70    . 

Sales  Promotion 

50 

30 

25: 

10 

5 

2    . 

The  next  table   shows  these  future  changes  in  distribution  of 
time  by  means  of  minus  and  plus  variations  from  the  present  distribution 


TABLE  3:      FUTURE  CHANGES. 


:  Manager ' s  Number 

1 

2    :    3 

/ 

:   5 

.   6 

:   7 

:    8 

1        9 

10            : 

:  Personnel 

-10 

♦15 

+15 

:-10 

-40 

+5            : 

:  Office  Routine 

-35 

-10 

-10 

-15 

-15 

:  Financial 

:  Selling 

+  12: 

-20: 

-28: 

+  20    | 

+62    : 

+10 

:  Sales  Promotion 

: 

+  33: 

■<tSi 

■  -8 ; 

No  manager  contemplates  a   change  in  the  amount  of  time  that 
he   is  putting  on  financial  matters.      From  this  fact  as  veil  as  from 
tne   remarks  of  the  nrragers,    it  is    cafe  to   say  that  financial  duties 
are  quite   secondary,  except  for  Managers  3  and  1,  for  whoa  financial 
duties  take  first  rank. 


One  half  of  the  managers  interviewed  are  planning  to  spend 
less  time  on  office  routine.     The   ij.cros.s^d  vS   s  r?sist--C3  during  the 
present  depression  is  the  main  reason  for  the  change.     Four  of  these 
live   -re   ,-omg  to  spend  more   time  or.  direct   selling  and  in  helping  their 
men  close  hard  deals.      Pour  managers  are  content  with  their  present 
distribution  of  time.     Only  one  of  these  four  works  on  a  commission  basis, 

The   size  of  the  sales  force  is  an  important  factor  in  the 
distribution  of  a  manager's  time.     For  example  Manager  2   spends  60^  of 
his  time  on  personnel  duties;   but  he  has  the  largest  sales  force,   - 
nineteen. 


-6- 

Knnager  9  spends  50$  of  his  time  on  personnel  items;  but  a 
largo  part  of  this  emphasis  is  due  to  the  fact  that  he  is  training  an 
office  manager  to  handle  office  routine  matters.  After  this  man  is 
trained,  he  will  spend  only  10$  on  personnel  work. 

Only  three  managers  are  going  to  spend  more  time  on  sales 
promotion  activities.  Probably  more  managers  would  do  so  if  they  knew 
how  to  "promote".  Manager  4  is  already  directing  17$  of  his  efforts  to- 
ward sales  promotion,  and  plans  to  increase  this  to  50$.  Manager  1,  who 
spends  30$  of  his  time  on  sales  promotion,  devotes  most  of  this  30$  to 
participation  in  the  social  affairs,  of  prospects  and  users. 

Two  managers  are  going  to  spend  less  time  in  direct  selling 
and  helping  their  men  close  deals  and  more  time  in  supervising  their 
salesmen  and  in  sales  promotion.  Most  of  the  managers  who  are  contem- 
plating great  changes  in  the  distribution  of  their  time  are  planning' 
to  increase  the  size  of  their  sales  forces.  This  applies  to  Managers  10, 
8,  6,  5,  and  3. 

III.  THE  ASSISTANCE  RECEIVED  FROM  THE  HOME  OFFICE. 

The  next  table  shows  how  much  assistance  and  supervision  the 
respective  managers  get  from  their  home  offices.  Crosses  (X)  indicate 
help  received. 

TABLE  4:  ASSISTANCE  FROM  THE  HOME  OFFICE. 


Manager ' s  Number 

1  : 

2 

3 

4  : 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10   : 

Collections 

X  : 

X  . 

X 

X 

X 

X  : 

Accounting  System 

x  • 

X  : 

x  • 

X 

z  ■ 

X  : 

Sales  Letters 

X  . 

X  i 

X  : 

X 

X  : 

Hiring  Sr; lesmen 

: 

X  : 

X  I 

X 

X  : 

Printed  Training  Course  for  salesmen 

X 

X 

X 

Factory  Training  of  Hew  Men 

X 

X 

X 

'  X  : 

Machine  Applications 

X 

X 

District  Supervisor  Makes  Visits 

X 

:  X 

: 

Branch  Manager  Visits  H.O.  Frequently 

:  X 

:  X 

"Leads"  Furnished  Toward  Live  Frospect 

:  X  : 

Local  Advertising 

|, 

X 

:  X 

-7- 

This  table  shows  that  only  four  of  the  ten  managers  have  to 
supervise  collections  on  sales  and  keep  f ino.~ii>''.al  accounts  connected 
with  sales.  Managers  10,  9,  5  and  4  receive  a  great  deal  of  help  from 
their  home  offices.  Managers  1,  2,  3  and  7  receive  very  little 
assistance.  Four  of  the  ten  sales  organizations  represented  give  be- 
ginning salesmen  a  special  training  course  at  their  respective  home 
offices.  Three  of  the  ten  managers  are  furnished  with  printed  train- 
ing courses  for  salesmen.  One  manager  is  furnished  "leads"  to  live 
prospects  in  his  territory.  The  home  office  gets  these  "leads"  as  a 
result  of  an  extensive  advertising  campaign. 

Four  managers  receive  assistance  in  hiring  new  salesmen.  The 
other  six  are  furnished  with  practically  no  guidance.  Five  managers 
receive  assistance  from  the  home  office  in  the  way  of  sales  letters. 

Only  two  of  the  ten  Managers  3  and  2,  receive  systematic 
per  so-  a)  supervision  from  higher  officials  and  these  two  say  that  they 
get  very  little  practical  assistance  on  methods  of  management.  Manager 
3  states  that  his  company  has  an  excellent  plan  of  supervising  his 
service  department,  but  the  district  manager  who  is  supposed  to  visit 
him  about  every  three  or  four  months  to  check  up  on  his  sales  operations 
actually  comes  around  only  about  once  a  year.  When  he  does  make  a  visit 
it  is  more  in  the  nature  of  a  social  call;  he  does  not  make  a  systematic 
analysis  and  has  very  few  lr'e  ideas  to  offer. 

Manager  5's  district  manager  spends  two  days  with  him  every 
month  but  it  is  a  very  superficial  and  perfunctory  visit,  consisting 
chiefly  of  social  chats  about  other  branches  and  general  sales  policies, 
two  or  three  dinners,  a  theatre  or  golf  party  and  possibly  a  "pep"  talk 
to  the  local  salesmen.  This  hranch  manager  is  very  eager  for  helpful 
suggestions  on  hcrr  to  hire  and  break  in  new  salesmen,  how  to  supervise, 
develop  and  handle  different  tvpes  of  salesmen,  how  to  analyze  his 
territory,  and  similar  duties  that  have  fallen  to  his  lot  since  he  xvas 
promoted  from  salesman  to  branch  manager. 

It  would  be  useful  to  find  out  exactly  how  many  general  sales 
managers  are  competent  supervisors  of  their  branch  and  agency  managers . 
Of  the  ten  national  sales  organizations  represented  in  this  study  only 
one  seems  to  be  trying  out  a  system  of  supervision  on  a  large  scale. 
This  system  seems  to  be  a  failure  because  it  is  very  superficial  and  , 
also  because  the  best  methods  of  branoh  management  are  not  used  as  a 
standard. 

IV.  METHODS  OF  HIRING  SALES! EN. 


Branch  manager  4  receives  the  most  assistance  from  his  home 
office  in  selecting  new  salesmen.  He  is  furnished  with  a  standardized 
interview  blank  which  enables  him  to  determine  approximately  whether  an 
applicant  possesses  the  particular  abilities  that  are  considered 
necessary  for  success  in  selling  his  specialty.  In  addition  to  this 
blank  there  is  a  uniform  application  blank.  This  manager  never  relies 
on  a  single  interview  when  he  sizes  up  an  applicant;  he  prefers  to  have 
the  man  call  back  at  least  once  or  twice  -  preferably  twice. 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  manager  4  has  received  some  valuable 
aids  from  his  home  office,  the  general  sales  manager  of  his  company 
realizes  that  there  are  still  many  chances  for  branch  managers  to  make 
mistakes  in  sizing  up  applicants.  Therefore,  the  home  office  is  now 


-8- 

recerving  the  veto  power  oh  all  hiring  and  firing  of  salesmen  by  branch 
managers. 

In  contrast  with  the  help  received  by  Manager  4  is  the  absolute 
lack  of  assistance   in  the  case  of  Manager  8.     His  company  does  not  even 
furnish  a    standard  application  blank.     TVhen  asked  hew  many  salesmen  he 
lias,  he  replied  that  there  were   six  on  the  roll  but  only  one  of  them 
could  be  counted  a   success.     He  was  considering  whether  or   not  to  "fire''' 
the-  whole   group  and  build  up  a  new  branch  organization.     At  the  same  time 
ho  realized  that  the  chances  ~'ould  still  be  as  great  as  in  former  times 
that  he  would  "pick  a  bunch  of  lemons".     He  would  like  assistance  from 
his  horr.e  office.     In  fact  he   is  in  such  desperate   straits  that  he  has  to 
devote  a  large  amount  of  his  time  to  direct   selling,   in  order  to  pay 
expenses. 

The  methods  of  hiring  used  by  Manager  2  are  unique.     He  gives 
preference  to  men  who  have  had  no  previous  selling  experience.     Eis 
salesmen  have  been  recruited  from  various  walks  of  life,   -  newsboys, 
blacksmiths,  college  graduates,  barbers,   store  managers  and  others.     New 
men  are  paid  strictly  on  a  commission  basis.     Although  he  does  not  use 
the  most  modern  ?nd  scientific  methods  of  selection,  he  has  built  up  in 
the  short  period  of  two  years  a   creditable   sales  force  of  nineteen  and 
is  rated  by  his  company  as  one  of  their  best  branch  managers. 

The  home  office  of  Manager  9  will   select  new  salesmen  for  him 
if  he   so  desires.     Manager  10  as  well  as  Manager  4  must  receive  approval 
from  his  home  office  when  he  hires  a  new  salesman. 

Five  of  tha  ten  managers  regard  the  hiring  of  salesmen  ac  one 
of  the  most  difficult  phases  of  their  work.     Hone  of  the  ten  uses  more 
than  two  source;  of   supply  '"her.  he  need-  a   salesman,  namely,   -  wart 
adds  in  local  papers  and  his  personal  acquaintances  or  those  of  his 
salesmen. 

In  concluding  this  comparative  summary  of  methods  of  hiring, 
it  should  be   stated  that  every  one  of  the  ten  branch  managers  oould 
improve  his  present  methods.     ITone  of  their  home  offices  has  determined 
in  on  accurate  manner  the   qualifications  of  a   successful   salesman.     With 
the  exception  of  the  trade  te3t  used  by  Manager  4,  no  U3e  is  made  of 
scientific  methods  of  selection  such  as:     an  objective   scoring  of  the 
applicant's  personal  history  blank,   psychological  tests,   trade  tests, 
analysis  of  turnover,  and  graphic  rating  scales. 

V.  DEVELOPING  SALESMEN. 


(1)  "Breaking  in"  New  Men. 

Manager  10  gives  a  new  man  preliminary  training  for  three  weeks 
by  having  him  help  the  service  man,  study  in  the  office  and  accompany  the 
manager  in  the  field.  Then  the  man  is  sent  to  the  factory  to  be  trained. 

Manager  3  trains  a  new  man  in  the  office  for  about  ten  days. 
He  and  his  experienced  salesmen  give  pointers  to  the  novice  and  help  hin 
master  a  machine  demonstration.  Then  the  new  man  observes  the  field 
work  of  one  of  the  experienced  salesmen  or  of  the  isanagcr  for  two  or 
three  days  and  finally  goes  out  "on  his  cwa  hook'1. 

ors  4,  5,  and  9  do  net  have  to  broak  in  new  man.  All 


-9- 

rocruite  receive  training  at  the  factory  for  three  or  four  weeks  boforo 
they  join  the  local  agencies. 

Manager  2  assigns  a  beginning  salesman  to  one  of  his  best 
men  for  about  ten  days.     Then  he  has  the  new  man  accompany  him  for 
three  or  four  days,  and  they  take  turns  at  selling  and  observing. 

(2)  Field  Supervision.  / 

Managers   7,   5  and  2  arc  the   only  ones  who  attempt  to  locate 
the  weak  points  of  their  experienced  salesmen  by  means  of  a  field 
analysis.      It  has  already  been  pointed  out  how  Manager  2  docs  this  at 
the     same   time  that  he  helps  his  men  close  hard  deals. 

Manager  5  has  boon  trying  a  very  systematic  plan  of  field 
analysis.     He  has  found  it  difficult  to  locate  the  weak  points  of  one 
of  his  salesmen  who  had  been  with  him  for  seven  months.     The  following 
plan  brought  results.     He  spent  a  half  day  in  the  field  with  the   sales- 
man without  offering  any  help  or   suggestions.     But  he  was  continually 
observing  the  man's  methods  very  closely  and  taking  written  notes.     Viihcn 
they  returned  to  the   office  he   revealed  to  the   salesman  some   of  his 
salient  weaknesses.     The  manager  is  very  enthusiastic  about  this  plan  of 
field  analysis  because,  it  reveals  a  man's     weaknesses  with  certainty  and 
speed.     He   savs  that  at  first  it  was  hard  for  bim  to  keep  from  offering 
suggestions  during  the  sales  interviews. 

Since  one  of  the  most  important  functions  of  a  branch  manager 
is  the  development  of  his   sales  force,  one  would  expect  to  find  managers; 
making  frequent  and  thorough  analyses  of  the  f  iAld  work  of  their  men,   in 
order  to  locate  the  stumbling  blocks  in  their  me^nods.     The  chief  reason 
so  little  of  this  is  dono  is,   perhaps,   the  desire",  of  the  manager  to  get 
immediate  results  by  helping  his  men  close   deals  rather  than  to  sacrifice 
a   small   immediate  gain  for  larger  future  returns,     furthermore ,  the 
managers  have  not  generally  found  a   systematic  and  economical  method  of    / 
training  their  mefa. 

(3)  Individual  Office  Conferences. 

> 

This  method  is  used  by  every  one  of  the  ton  majjasers.      It   scqms 
to  bo  the  most  useful  tool  for  measuring  a  man's  efforts  fcnd  increasing 
his  skill.     At  one  of  these  conferences  the   salesman  usua*jy  makes  an 
oral  report  on  deals  pending,  recent  progress  and  plans  1'oH  the   future, 
"one  of  the  managers    seems  to  havu  any  definite   system,   in  t-hoce  con- 
ferences, that  would  enable  him  to  get  the  maximum  possible  results  in 
the  development  of  his   salesmen.     Manager  5  does  require  his  mu^i  of 
loss  experience  to  roport  in  writing  the  mnin  details  concerning,    J****"  i 
sales  interviews.     Even  then  he  finds  difficulty  in  loop ting  their 
weak  points. 

(4)  Checking  Daily  Reports. 

i 

All  Managers  except  1  and  2  require  their  salesmen  to  make 
daily  reports.  The  system  followed  by  Manager  10  requires  an  individual 
prospect  report  for  each  sales  interview.  The  form  used  c~n  largely  be 
filled  out  by  merely  making  check  narks  opposite  the  printed  items  that 
are  listed.  An  interesting  feature  of  this  simple  form  is  the  report 
on  the  result  of  the  call.  Twenty-two  possible  results  cxe  listed,  such 


-10- 

as,  -  (1)  Call  Back;  (2)  Busy  or  6ut;  (3)  Appointment  for  Demonstration; 

(4)  Devising  System;  (5)  Ho  Progress;  (6)  Agrees  to  Trial;  (7)  Objects 
to  Price;  (8)  Objects  to  G  .  (9)  Objects  to  Handwriting;  (10) 
May  Develop  Later;  (11)  Difficult  personality;  (12)  Going  to  See  Others; 
(13)  Insufficient  Use;  (14)  Demonstration  0.  K.;  (15)  Trial  Failed;  etc. 
The  card  on  which  this  is  printed  measures  four  and  a  quarter  inchos  by 
six  and  a  quarter.  At  the  end  of  the  month  the  manager  makes  a  summary 
tabulation  of  the  data  on  "Results  of  Calls"  from  all  the  daily  reports 
of  each  salesman.  This  is  intended  to  furnish  a  measurement  of  the  man's 
efforts  for  the  month  and  to  reveal  sone  of  the  weaknesses,  in." Mr     "  * 
methods  of  selling.  Manager  10  likes  this  system  very  much.  However 

he  ha*>  only .one  . salesman,  so  it  is  hard  to  say  how  successfully  the 
plan  would  work  "'ith  an  extensive  sales  force.. 

Certain  drawbacks  are  involved  in  the  use  of  daily  reports. 
In  the  first  place,  many  salesmen  objeot  to  spending  time  on  "red  tape" 
which  seems  to  yield  them  no  direct  benefits;  secondly,  some  managers 
become  negligent  in  checking  up  :he  data  on  the  report?,  thereby 
defecting  the  purpose  of  the  pysterx;  but  the   biggest  drawback  to  daily 
written  reports  is  the  tendency  of  manager:  to  place  too  much  reliance 
on  them  in  supervising  their  men,  to  the  neglect  of  the  more  useful 
devices  of  office  conferences  and  field  observations.  Some  managers 
place  little  credence  in  daily  reports  as  a  check  on  a  salesman's  efforts 
because  a  man  can  easily  trials  "fake"  r?portc  if  lie  -./ants  to  shirk. 

Manager  5  admits  that  in  most  instances  the  daily  reports 
handed  in  by  his  salesmen  are  filed  T"ithout  being  referred  to.  Ee  thinks 
that  the  mere  requiring  of  written  reports  stimulates  salesmen. 

Managers  1  and  2  regard  reports  as  of  so  little  service  that 
they  do  not  require  them.  Cn  the  other  hand,  Manager  7  considers  daily 
reports  very  valuable.  Kis  stenographer  attends  to  all  details  in 
connection  with  them,  and  calls  his  attention  to  lazy  or  carelees 
tendencies  of  salesmen  as  revealed  by  their  reports. 

(5)  Supervising  "She   Training  Program. 

This  yecr,  educational  programs  seem  to  be  in  "rogue  in  many 
sales  organizations.  The  home  office  of  Manager  8  is  sending  out 
advance  lessons  from  a  new  printed  training  course  for  salesmen.  The 
organization  represented  by  Manager  2  is  tcking  steps  toward  con- 
structing a  printed  training  program.   In  fact  the  home  office  officials 
are  studying  Manager  2's  methods  of  training  his  nineteen  salesmen  be- 
cause he  has  been  so  successful  in  developing  new  men. 

Manager  5  cays  that  his  salesmen  do  not  appreciate  the  training 
course  th<.<t  was  constructed  for  them  by  the  home  office  and  that  they 
have  made  little  effort  to  master  it.  This  company  must  have  had 
difficulty  in  "petting  the  training  course  across"  with  its  salesmen, 
because  beginning  salesmen  are  being  trained  this  year  at  the  factory. 

All  of  the  ten  managers  could  improve  their  methods  of  train- 
ing salesmen.  This  is  to  he  expected,  because  very  few  branch  managers 
have  had  special  training  in  the  principles  of  education.  Manager  2 
reo.uirer  e-.ch  of  his  nineteen  salesmen  t*  attend  a  three  hour  Saturday 
morning  training  class.  Since  his  company  does  not  furnish  a  printed 
training  course,  he  has  to  rely  almost  entirely  on  oral  instruction. 
He  deserves  credit  for  devoting  a   great  deal  of  his  time  and  effort 


-11- 

during  the  past  three  years  to  the  problem  cf  devising-  a   system. for 
developing  salesmen.     At  .the  ssno  tine,  his  training  program  lias  its 
glaring  defects,   such  as:    (1)  the  training  content  is  not  organized 
into  units;    (2)  there   is  no  outline  of  the  course;    (3)   study  assignments 
are  not  made  definitely;    (4)  tests  are  :  ~t  given  to  find  cut  hbw  troll 
the  men  are  mastering    zhe  course;    (5)  experienced  salesmen  are  required 
to  tako  their  training  in  the  same  class  as  new  men;    (6)  bright  and 
ambitious  men  cannot  ad%-ance  through  the  course  more  rapidly  than  the 
dull  and  less  ambitious.     The  manager  himself  admits  that  some  of  the 
men  who  h-ve  ^een  in  his  employ  for  two  years  have  absorbed  but  little 
frca  his  Saturday  rorning  meetings.     He  attributes  this  to  the 
"slamese  cf  percolation  of  tew  ideas1'  rather  than  ta  Inefficient 
sethods  cf  tr;\im:^. 

None  of  the  ten  sales  ~rg;'r..izatiorfi  represented  has  a  first 
class  printed  training  pmgrsm.     2-xeot  in  companies  ^hich  maintain  a 
training  school  at  the  factory,   sales  -en  seem  to   set  "-heir  training 
ro.ther  indirectly  from  tho  f -Homing  sov>rces:      (1)  by  observing  the 
selling  methods  of  the  nc oager  and  his  e;;pe"ienced  salesmen;    (2)  by 
reading  miscellaneous  litorsoure  issued  v.y  the  heme   office;    (3)  by  read- 
ing printed  training  lessons   (in  case   there   is  a   printed  training  course,1 
which  furnish  a  few  idees  on  phases  of  salesmanship;    (4)  by  picking  up 
stray  ideas  that   -re  e>:pre£se<S  ':y  obance  at  a  meeting  of   salesmen;    (5; 
by  having  weak  points  revealed   in  cr.  ."orerces,   or  --hen  the  manager 
chances  to  observe  tho  Liela  work,     .night  managers  regard  tho  training 
of  salesmen  as  one   o£   their  most  important  duties. 

Sale  sign's  training  meetings.     Seven  managers  hold  weekly 
moctings:  f  o  have  meetingc  <rooe'ti  month;  and  one  conducts  a  group 
meeting  twice  a  ironth.     ITcne  of  tho  nanagers  seems  to  make  careful  plan3 
for  these  meetings.     They  put  their  time  on  tasks  which  they  consider 
more   important  fron  the   standpoint  of  leaking  -.money.     Managers  3  and  2 
seem  to  devote  rore  attention  to  there  meetings  than  do  the  others. 
Such  a  group  confererjoo  vsually  serves  J    "  pyrpasee:      (1)  training;    (2) 
stimulation.     Most  aExnagtere  etaphacir. -.  tho  eocnd  phase  more  than  the 
first.     Manager  2  is  ftn  exception.     Training  is  accomplished  chiefly  by 
having  tho  men  cite   instances  from  the5.r  recont  experiences  as  illustra- 
tions cf  methods  of  selling;   and  by  group  discussion  of  ideas  offered 
by  the  manager.     Occasionally  a  manager   Invites  the  r:ar_ager  of  another 
concern  tc  talk  on  salesmanship  at  his  meeting.     Manager  2,   in  particular, 
likes  to  have  other  mana-erc  address  his  men.     Last  year  he  arranged  to 
have  an  instructor  in  salesmanship  jrive  his  men  a   scries  of  lessens. 


-:' 


VI.  STIMULATira  SALESMEN. 

This  phase  of  the  branch  manager's  job  is  probably  the  most 
important  cf  all.  If  he  cannot  get  bis  c»a  to  work  hard,  his  chances 
for  great   success  are   slight. 

As  means  of  stimulating  their  men,  eight  managers  attach  major 
importance  to  helping  their  men  close  hard  deals.     Individual  office  con- 
ferences rank  second.     Salesmen's  meetings  come  third.     Managers  3,  4,  5 
and  7  hare  secured  good  results  from  salesmen's  contests.     Managers  1,  4, 
8  and  7  promote  social  affairs  for  their  salesmen.     Managers  1,  3  and  C 
emphasize  pay  incentives  more   than  €.o  the    others.     Details  concerning 
these  methods  of  pay  were  cited  above.     Managers  1,  2  md.  5  use  the 
distriou.ticn  cf  territories  as  an  i  ceativo  ,  by  giving  the  best 


-12- 

territcries  to  the  best  salesmen.  Manager  7  gives  the  same  size  and 
quality  of  territory  to  each  of  his  men.  Manager  2  realizes  the  need 
of  opportunities  for  promoting  his  veteran  salesmen;  therefore  he  is 
planning  to  inaugurate  a  system  of  "Junior"  salesmen,  whereby  an 
experienced  man  can  hire  as  many  Juniors  and  cover  as  much  territory  as 
he  can  handle  successfully. 

Manager  3  is  the  cnly  one  who  writes  many  pep  bulletins,  but 
Manager  7  writes  a  few.  Manager  3  uses  a  greater  variety  of  incentives 
than  any  other  of  the  ten  managers.  However,  he  gives  his  men  little 
assistance  on  hard  deals.. 

Manager  1,  who  has  one  of  the  largest  branch  organizations, 
although  not  the  largest  sales  force,  tries  to  spur  his  men -to  greater 
effort  by  means  of  the  follovring  incentives:  he  helps  his  men.  close 
hard  deals;  discusses  their  ^"ork  with  them  frequently  in  individual 
conferences;  gives  the  best  territories  to  the  best  salesmen;  .increases 
the  salaries  of  his  salesmen  in  proportion  to  their  tenure  of  service; 
and  promotes  social  affairs  for  his  entire  branch  organization/ 
including  service  men  and  clerical  employees.  This  manager  does  not 
require  his  salesmen  to  make  daily  reports.  He  seems  to  be  the  type  of 
manager  whose  success  depends  largely  on  his  personality;  therefore  he 
gets  along  without  certain  incentives  which  are  used  by  other  managers. 
nevertheless,  he  might  be  more  successful  if  he  resorted  to  them. 

Manager  2  has  the  most  unusual  methods  of  handling  men.  In 
his  Saturday  morning  salesmen's  meetings  he  "blisters"  the  salesman  who 
is  lax  in  his  work.  Three  of  four  other  managers  declare  that  if  they 
were  salesmen  they  "would  not  work  for  him  one  minute."  nevertheless 
he  is  getting  results,  his  men  swear  by  him,  and  his  home  office  is 
expected  to  promote  him  to  a  position  of  greater  responsibility.  What, 
then,  are  his  methods  of  leadership?  A  superficial  analysis  brings  to 
light  his  negative  tactics.  A  careful  study  would  reveal  the  methods 
which  enable  him  to  "drive"  men  without  losing  their  good  will.  The 
manager  himself  attributes  his  leadership  to  the  following  factors:   (l) 
he  evinces  a  sincere  desire  to  help  his  men  make  as  much  money  as  they 
can;  (2)  he  spends  at  least  40$  of  his  time  helping  them  close  hard 
deals;  (3)  he  makes  his  salesmen's  meetings  interesting  and  worthwhile; 
(/-)  he  never  "blisters"  a  man  who  is  working  hard;  (5)  at  the  same  time 
that  he  helps  a  man  close  a  hard  deal  he  analyzes  the  sale  in  order  to 
show  the  man  how  to  overcome  his  weak  points;  (6)  he  takes  special 
pains  when  he  is  breaking  in  green  salesmen;  (7)  all  dealings  with  his 
men  are  fair  and  above  board,  without  any  private-  understandings  with 
individual  men;  (8)  he  has  his  office  desk  in  the  same  room  as  that 
used  by  his  salesmen  rather  than  in  a  private  office;  (9)  he  gives  bigger 
territories  to  the  better  salesmen;  (10)  whenever  he  'issues  new- 
instructions  to  his  salesmen  he  gives  the  reasons  in  full. 

After  all,  these  are  chiefly  surface  features  of  his  methods 
of  handling  men.  In  order  to  get  the  ooncrete  and  basic  facts,  the 
observer  should  spend  considerable  time  studying  this  manager  both  in 
the  office  and  in  the  field,  and  should  also  interview  the  salesmen. 
The  manager  himself  attributes  much  of  his  skill  to  his  wide  experience 
as  a  salesman.  He  has  worked  for  about  thirty  different  firms  and  was 
"fired"  by  at  least  twenty  cf  them. 

Manager  8  realizes  that  one  of  his  chief  weaknesses  is  his 
inability  to  develop  and  handle  salesmen.  Manager  5  admits  the  same 


-13- 

weakness  and  is  trying  hie  best  to  overcome  it.  Ee  is  trying  to  copy 
tho  methods  of  Manager  2  by  resorting  to  driving  tactics.  This 
raises  an  important  question:  Can  a  manager  who  is  not  skillful  in 
handling  men  be  trained  and  developed  in  that  art"?  In  other  words,  can 
he  profit  from  the  experiences  of  a  successful  handler  of  men?  At 
present  there  is  no  satisfactory  answer  to  this  question  because  such  a 
training  course  has  never  been  completely  constructed.  The  job  analysis, 
furnishes  the  only  method  whereby  it  can  be  done. 

Manager  5  may  be  able  to  imitate  Manager  2,  but  it  is  probable 
that  he  will  copy  only  a  part,  -  perhaps  the  weak  part.  He  may  use  the 
driving  tactics  without  counterbalancing  along  the  lines. of  fair 
treatment,  open  dealings,  helpfulness,  etc.  Furthermore  he.  may  not 
have  the  right  kind  of  personality  to  make  a  success  with  these  methods- 

Tho  managers  who  seen  to  be  most  proficient  in  handling  men  ore 
Managers  1,  2,  Z,   4  and  6. 

VII.  THE  REMUITLKATIOi:  OF  SALSSLDSIT. 

Five  managers  pay  their  'experienced  salesmen  on.  a  basis  of 
salary  plus  commission.  Only,  f our  pay  a  straight  commission.  Crly 
three  use  a  different  plan  of  remuneration  for  beginning  salesmen  from 
that  used  for  experienced  men.  Three  managers  have  vr.rious  plans  cf  , 
remuneration.  Manager  3  has  five  classes  of  salesmen: 

1.  City  salesmen  who  average  $800  or  better  per  month  in 
total  sclos  for  throe  months  reocive  CIS  per  week  and  a  coramiscicii. 
ranging  from  10^  to  15^. 

2.  City  salesmen  who  do  not  meet  the  above  requiremont 
receive  $10  a  vreok  and  10/?  commissioa.  City  salesmen  make  their  own 
collections  on  sales. 

3.  Sa  lesnen  in  provincial  territories  work  on  straight 
commission.  They  do  not  make  their  own  collections.      .' 

4.  Dealers  in  small  tovns  recei"e  machines  at  wholesale- 
prices.  These  dealers  pay  their  own  expenses.  The  branch  manager 
supervises  them.  The  dealer's  volume  of  or  lea  is  included  in  the 
branch  manager's  record  of  sales. 

5.  In  West  Virginia  thero  are  open  territories  \7here 
professional  men  are  authorized  to  solicit  on  a  straight  commission 
basic.  This  plan  is  used  in  sparse  territory. 

Manager  3  is  ohiefly  trying  out  the  third  and  fifth  plans. 

Manager  6  is  also  experimenting  with  different  plans  of 
remunerating  his  salesmen.  In  fact,  managers  3  and  6  attach  unusual 
significance  to  this  incentive.  One  Manager,  who  plans  the  weekly 
programs  for  the  Office  Appliance  Managers'  Association  of  Pittsburgh, 
devoted  one  program  to  different  plans  of  remunerating  salesmen.  In 
his  own  branch  he  tried  these  three  plans:  straight  salary,  drawing 
account  and  commission,  straight  cor.misoion.  The  second  plan  gave  the 
best  results. 


-14- 

Manager  1  pays  his  men  on  a  salary  plus  commission  basis,  but 
the  salary  increases  with  a  man's  tenure  of  position.  During  the  first 
two  years  the  salary  is  $15  a  week;  for  the  next  two  §20  a  week;  there- 
after, $25  a  week. 

One  manager  is  trying  the  following  plan  of  remunerating  new 
salesmen.     They  will  work  as  "Juniors"  and  receive  $5100  a  month  plus  a 
commission  of  10$  on  sales  above  a  monthly  volume  of  $1,000.     These 
men  will  be   supervised  by  the  experienced  salesmen  who  will  receive  from 
the  branch  manager  a  commission  of  5%  on  all  deals  closed  by  Juniors. 

Manager  2  is  the  only  other  Manager  who  expects  to  try  a  plan 
of  Junior   salesmen.     He  feels  that  there  should  be  more   lines  of 
promotion  in  his  organization  for  veteran  salesmen.     According  to  his 
plan  the  latter  vail  be  urged  to  hire   Juniors  at  $15  a  week.     Juniors 
will  receive  12$  on  all  sales  while  the  Seniors    will  get  the  remainder 
of  the   standard  commission.     Successful  Seniors  will  be  allowed  to  hire 
as  many  Juniors  as  they  please. 

The  following  table  gives  the  plan  of  remunerating  salesmen 
that  is  used  by  each  manager: 

Manager's         Plan  of 

Iluraber  Remuneration 

1.  Salary  and  commission. 

2.  3  plans  (mentioned  above). 

3.  Commission. 

4.  Commission  and  salarv  that  increases  with  years 

of  experience . 

5.  ,     Commission. 

6.  3  plans  (mentioned  above). 

7.  2  plans  (mentioned  above). 

8.  Salary  and  commission. 

9.  Drawing  account  and  commission. 

10.  Commission. 


-15- 


VIII.   SALES  PROMOTION  ACTIVITIES 

. 

,he  ten  managers  in 
item  in  question 
;  the  manager 

The  following  table  shows  the  variations  among  i 
sales  promotion  activities.     One  cross  indicates  that  the 
receives  some  attention.     Two  or  more  crosses  signify  thai 
devotes  considerable  effort  to  that  phase  of  his  job. 

TABLE  5. 

Manager ' s  Number 

1    : 

i 
i 

2 

3 

4 

5'  , 

6  i 

7   : 

8:9       10: 

1.  Maizes  territorial  ar*»!vstii  It!  '**§#r 

to  get  in  touch  witli  uttX*nun  m  ;nber 
of  prospects. 

X 

X 

X 
X 

X   : 

"  X    I 

\ 

2.  Participates   in  social  aifai'rs  of 
business  men,   such  as  Chamber  of 
Commerce,  Country  Club,  Lodges. 

X 
X 

1  X 

X 

X 
X 

x  . 

X 

X 

X 

3.  Writes  sales  letters. 

X 
X 

X 

4.  Keeps  in  systematic  touch  with  sales 
and  methods  of  competitors. 

.  X 

X 
X 

X 

:  X 

.  X 

5#  Checks  up  on  past  sales  in 

different  parts  of  branch  territory 

X 

X 

X 

6.  Plans  sales  campaigns. 

X 

X 

X 

X 
X 

X 

• 

7.  fidv.ertises   locally. 

i 

X 

X 

8«  Renders  good  'vill  services' from 
agency  office  to  prospects  and  users 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

1  : 

9.  Makes  exhibits  of  product  at 
business  conventions. 

'  X 

'  X 

■ 

X    : 

Manager  2  is  one  of  the  most  successful  of  the  ten;  yet  he  pays 
little  heed  to  the  possibilities  of  increasing  his  sales  by  the  indirect 
methods  of  sales  promotion.   He  prefers  to  spend  more  time  on  personnel  work, 
such  as  developing  end  supervising  his  nineteen  salesmen,  thereby  getting 
increased  sales  as  a  result  of  their  direct  selling  efforts. 

Manager  3  is  quite  different;  ho  makes  use  cf  eight  of  the  nine 
sales  promotion  devices.  E3low  are  some  illustrations  of  his  methods: 

1.  UNIQUE  SALES  PROMOTION  METHODS  OF  ONE  MANAGER. 


Sale 8  Campaigns: 


At  one  time  this  manager  launched  a  campaign  directed  toward  the 
occupants  of  a  large  office  building.  He  required  all  his  salesmen  on  one 
certain  day  to  canvass  in  this  building  instead  of  in  their  own  torritories. 
As  a  result  there  was  an  increase  in  volume  from  territory  which  was  considered 
,:sold  up"  by  the  salesman  to  whom  it  belonged;  and  at  the  same  time  most  of 
the  members  of  the  sales  force  were  stimulated  as  a  result  6f  the  group  drive. 


-15- 

VIII.  SALES  PROMOTION  ACTIVITIES. 

The  following  table  shows  the  variations  among  the  ten  managers  in 
sales  promotion  activities.  One  cross  indicates  that  the  item  in  question 
receives  some  attention.  Two  or  more  crosses  signify  that  the  manager 
devotes  considerable  effort  to  that  phase  of  his  job. 

TABLE  5. 


Manager ' s  Number                                       :   1 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5'  , 

6   : 

7   : 

8:9       10: 

1.  Makes  territorial  »ne»1t>s*.#  It!  "*"der : 
to  get;  in  couch  will,  uAX3.mon  n>  :nber : 
of  prospects.                                            '• 

X 

X 

X 
X 

X 

"  X 

> 

2.  Farticipat.es   in  social  affairs  of      :  x 
business  men,   such  as  Chamber  of       :  X 
Commerce,  Country  Club,  Lodges.          :  X 

X 

X 
X 

X  . 

X 

X 

X 

3.  Writes  sales  letters.                              : 

X 
X 

X 

4.  Keeps  in  systematic  touch  with  sales : 
and  methods  of  competitors.                   :  X 

.  X 
X 

X 

:  X 

.  X 

5*  Checks  up  on  past  sales  in 

different  parts  of  branch  territory1 

X 

X 

X 

6.  Plans  sales  campaigns.                            : 

X 

'  X 

X 

X 
X 

X 

• 

7.  fidv.ertises   locally.                                   : 

i 

X 

X 

8.  Renders  good  'vill  services' from          : 
agencv  office  to  prospects  and  users: 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

£   : 

9-  Makes  exhibits  of  product  at               : 
business  conventions.                              : 

X 

'   X 

X    : 

Manager  2  is  one  of  the  most  successful  of  the  ten;  yet  he  pays 
little  heed  to  the  possibilities  of  increasing  his  sales  by  the  indirect 
methods  of  sales  promotion.   He  prefers  to  spend  more  time  on  personnel  work, 
such  as  developing  and  supervising  his  nineteen  salesmen,  thereby  getting 
increased  sales  as  a  result  of  their  direct  selling  efforts. 

Manager  3  is  quite  different;  ho  makes  use  cf  eight  of  the  nine 
sales  promotion  devices.  Eslow  are  some  illustrations  of  his  methods: 

1.  UNIQUE  SALES  PROMOTION  METHODS  OF  ONE  MANAGER. 


Sales  Campaigns: 

At  one  time  this  manager  launched  a  campaign  directed  toward  the 
occupants  of  a  large  office  building.  He  required  all  his  salesmen  on  one 
certain  day  to  canvass  in  this  building  instead  of  in  their  own  territories. 
As  a  result  there  was  an  increase  in  volume  from  territory  which  was  considered 
,:sold  up"  by  the  salesman  to  whom  it  belonged;  and  at  the  same  time  most  of 
the  members  of  the  sales  force  were  stimulated  as  a  result  6f  the  group  drive. 


-16- 

Sales  Letters: 

He  has  secured  such  good  average  results  in  past  years  from 
the  use  of  sales  letters  that  he  seizes  every  favorable  opportunity  to 
send  out  a  series. 

Good  Will  Services  to  Users: 


This  manager  regards  service  to  users  as  more  potent  in 
getting  new  business  than  the  direct  efforts  of  his  salesmen.  Therefore 
he  supervises  his  service  department  vith  extreme  care.  Every  complaint 
from  a  customer,  no  matter  how  small,  receives  the  manager's  prompt 
consideration.  He  once  sent  out  a  circular  letter  to  a  sampling  list  of 
users,  in  whioh  he  asked  whether  their  machines  were  giving  satisfactory, 
sen/ice.  •'■  .  . 

Watching  Competition: 

He  is  well  posted  on  the  business  of  his  competitors.  He  knows 
about  how  much  business  each  is  getting;  their  respective  methods  of 
selling;  their  innovations;  their  regular  and  irregular  (if  any)  discounts 
from  list  prices;  and  similar  facts.  He  gets  such  information  from  the 
following  sources: 

1.  Territorial  reports  from  salesmen. 

2.  Gossip  gathered  by  his  salesmen  from  salesmen  of  competitors. 

3.  Personal  observation  in  the  field  when  he  helps  his  men 

close  big  deals. 

4.  By  quizzing  prospects  solicited  by  competitors. 

5.  Personal  acquaintance  with  a  manager  of  a  second  hand  machine 

exchange . 

In  connection  with  these  activities  of  Manager  3  it  is  interesting 
to  note,  byway  of  contrast,  the  attitude  of  Manager  2  v:ho  pays  very 
little  attention  to  what  his  competitors  are  doing.  He  says  that  he  wants 
his  salesmen  to  think  only  about  the  high  grade  features  of  their  own 
product  when  they  solicit  orders.  Competitors  do  not  worry  him.  ■    •  . 

2.  a:talyzii:g  territory. 


Manager  5  used  a  rather  simple  system  in  making  a 'territorial 
analysis.  He  determined  an  approximately  complete  list  of  prospects  by 
comsulting  Bradstreet  and  Dunn's  Credit  Book  and  the  classified  section 
of  the  telephone  directory.  '       •  .•»'< 

Manager  3  has  secured  a  good  analysis  of  his  territory  as  a  .  '. 
result  of  systematizing  the  data  from  salesmen's  daily  reports  during  the 
past  several  years.  We  might  designate  this  as  an  indirect  and  slow 
method  of  getting  facts  concerning  sales  possibilities.' 

Manager  7  used  trade  directories  to  get  in.  touch  with  a 
maximum  number  of  prospects.  ■ 

Manager  3  has  a  "piecemeal"  •  lar.  of  analyzing  his  branch-  .  . 
territory.  When  he  launches  a  sales  campaign n.  against  firms  in  one  certain 
line  of  business,  he  gets  the  names  of  ail  firms  in  that  line  in  his 
territory  by  consulting  trade  directories. 


-18- 

business  in  the  classified  section  of  the  telephone  directory.  Thon 
at  a  meeting  of  his  salesmen  he  works  out  the  machine  applications  for 
this  particular  line  of  business,  stirs  up  en^husiarm  and  hands  out 
the  prospect  cards  one  at  a  tine.  Each  salesman  takes  the  cards  of 
prospects  in  his  territory,  and  is  urged  by  the  manager  to  centralize 
part  of  his  efforts  on  them. 

Six  managers  make  use  of  sales  campaigns,  directed  almost 
entirely  against  single  lines  of  business. 

Manager  2  succeeded  in  selling  his  product  to  banks,  after  his 
sales  manager  had  cr5.tici2ed  him  lor  failing  to  get  more  bank  business. 
It  happens  that  the  banks  save  money  when  their  patrons  purchase  one  of 
the  specialties  that  he  handles;  co  he  compiled  a  list  of  the  patrons  of 
each  bank  who  had  purchased  his  goods.  With  these  lists  as  a  weapon  he 
started  a  campaign  on  the  banks.  This  manager  now  holds  the  high  record 
in  his  organization  for  sales  to  banks  in  his  branch. 

7.  LOCAL  ADVERTISING. 


Only  two  managers  do  any  local  advertising,  and  theirs  is  quite 
limited. 

EC.  DIRECT  SELLING. 


The  one  duty  that  seems  to  receive  first  consideration  from 
branch  managers  is  that  of  helping  their  salesmen  close  deals.  Manager 
1,  is  the  only  one  of  the  ten  who  minimizes  this  task;  Manager  3  dovotos 
only  10$  of  his  time  to  it.  The  remaining  managers  plan  to  spend 
considerable  time,  tanging  from  22  to  70  per  cent,  in  selling.  Seme 
managers  are  perhaps  spending  more  time  in  the  field  than  they  should, 
duo  to  tho  fact  that  they  are  not  capable  of  increasing  the  volume  of 
sales  from  their  territories  by  such  indirect  means  as  hiring  and 
developing  high  grade  salesmen,  making  territorial  analvsis,  writing  sales 
letters,  etc.  Managers  10  and  £  have  had  poor  success  in  their  choice  of 
salesmen;  therefore  as  a  last  resort  they  are  spending  about  half  of 
their  time  as  salesmen  rather  than  as  managers.  They  have  definite 
territories  in  which  they  work.  Manager  6  reserves  as  his  field  the 
"cream"  of  his  branch  territory,  -  the  largest  and  best  prospects.  He 
haSkbeen  spending  at  least  half  of  his  time  selling  for  himself.  In  the 
future,  however,  he  plans  to  double  his  sales  farce  and  spend  more  time 
on  sales  promotion  and  personnel  •  'ork  and  less  time  on  direot  selling. 
In  other  words,  he  seems  to  realize  that  he  has  been  functioning  too 
muoh  as  a  salesman  and  too  little  as  a  manager.  He  has  had  less  than 
two  years  experience  as  branch  manager. 

Most  branch  managers  seem  to  have  only  one  motive  in  helping 
their  men  close,  -  namely,  to  increase  their  total  volume  of  sales  by 
helping  secure  certain  orders  ';hich  the  salesman  is  not  quite  able  to 
"swing".  In  general  there  are  three  reasons  vhy  the  managers^  as  si  stance 
brings  results:   (1)  his  superior  celling  ability;  (2)  the  stimulating 
effect  on  some  salesmen  who  are  a  little  weak  in  initiative;  (3)  the 
prestige  of  his  position. 

X.  FIEAIJCIAL  DUTIES. 


Financial  duties  take  second  rank  with  all  exoept  Managers  3 
and  1.  Only  four  of  the  ten  make  their  own  s^les  collections,-  Managers 


•        ^-         ••■        •  .  -19- 

1,  2,   3  and  7.     All  managers  are   devoting  some  attention  to  cutting  down 
expenses.     For  example,  Manager  7  reduced  the  .size  of  his  sales  force 
about  50$.     He  did  this  because  the  business  depression  cut  down  the 
'demand'-for  his  'product  so  extensively  that,  he   could  not  afford  to  pay  tho 
salesmen  their'  salaries.     So  he  dismissed  the  weaker  salesmen,   increased 
the  size  ofyterritories  and. is  spending  more  of  his  own  time  in  the  field. 
Similar  reductions  have  been  made  by  other  managers,  but  the  present 
tendency  is  to  expand  the   sales  force.  , 

Manager   1,  has  the  greatest  financial  responsibilities  of  the 
group.     All  the  time  of  four  of  his  nine  clerical  employees  is  given 
to'the  care  of  financial  details.     He  spends  40$  of  his  time  on  this  phase 
of  his-  job.  .'«■•""■ 

XI.- WHAT  ARE  THE  MOST  DIFFICULT  PEASES  OF  A  BRATTCH  MANAGER'S  WORK. 


TABLE  6:    ITEMS  017  WHICH  MANAGERS  DESIRE   EIFORMATIOII. 


Manager's  I?umber 

1 

•2 

5 

(. 

•   5 

:   6 

!      7 

:     6 

:     9 

:     10 

I 

Hiring  Salesmen 

•  X 

X 

■  X 

X 

:       X 

Training  Salesmen 

:  X 

Supervising  Salesmen 

X 

X 

*< 

Sales  Letters 

X 

X 

Terr  itor  ia 1  Ana lyre  s 

X 

•u- 

■v 

X\i 

X    . 

Working  branch  econor.ie3. 

X 

Self  analysis 

X 

Handling  ;vlen 

X 

.A. 

x  ■ 

Manager b  7  and  9  were  not  interviewed  sufficiently  to  get  their 
answers.     Manager  10  could  not  name  any  specific  job  items  on  which  he 
was  anxious  to  get  new  ideas.  • 


-20- 
TABLE  7 
PHASES  OF  THEIR  JOBS  WHICH  BRATCH  MAFAGERS  CONSIDER  THE  MOST  DIFFICULT. 


Br  -  no  h  Ma  na  ge  r  '  s  ITumbe  r 

1 

.   2 

!   3 

:  4 

:    5 

:  6 

:   7 

:  8 

:  9 

:      10 

Hiring  Salesmen 

X 

X 

:  X 

!        X 

Territorial  Analyses 

X 

X 

X 

Meeting  Competition 

X 

Supervising  Service  Dcp't. 

X 

Handling  Men 

V 

X 

x  • 

X   . 

Working  Branch  Economies 

X   : 

Supervising  Salesmen 

X   ! 

X 

X  . 

Training  Salesmen 

X 

The  question  was  not   put  to  Manager  9.     Manager  2  dees  not 
consider  any  one  phase  of  his  job  more  difficult  than  another. 

XII.    IN  MAT  RESPECTS  DOBS  EACH  MAKAGER  EAVB  GOOD  METHODS? 

The  answer  to  this  question  is  very  %*ital  to   the  person  "/ho  is 
making  a   job  analysis.      In  order  to  make  a  complete   job  analysis  in  an 
economical  manner  the  first   interview  vith  a  branch  manager   should  have 
as  its  principal  aim  to  locate  those   phases   of  the  job  in  which  he  is 
using  good  methods.     Subsequent   interviews  can  then  be  focussed  on  these 
job  items.     The  differences  between  managers  is  very  apparent. 

Managers  1  and  3  represent  firms  that  not   only  sell  the  same 
kind  of   office   specialty  but  also  have    similar   sales  org-nizations.    How- 
ever, these  two  men  in  some  respects,  have  very  dissimilar  methods  of 
management.     Manager  3  gives  his  personal  attention  to  most  of  the  "red 
tape"    involved  in  office  routine,   such  as   checking  reports,   dictating 
routine  correspondence  and  checking  details  on  minor  orders.     Manager   1, 
delegates  85$  of  his  office   detail  vork  to  his  office  manager;  he   gives 
his  attention  to  important  correspondence   concerning   sales  and  complaints 
only.     Manager  3  also  spends  a  great  deal  of  time  supervising  his  service 
and  financial   departments,  whereas  Manager.  1,   delegates  practically  all 
of  this  responsibility  to  the  foreman  of  his  service  department  and  to 
his  head  bookkeeper.     Manager  3   spends  very  little  time  participating  in 
the   sccial  affairs  of  the  managers  of  Pittsburgh  firms  because,    in  his 
estimation,   they   hold   such  high  positions  that  they  have    little  to   say 
about  the  buying  of  his  product.     Manager   1,   on  the  other  hand,   spends 
at  least  a  fourth  of  his  time  mingling  in  a   social  way  with  business 
men,   and  says  that  he  has  closed  many  "big  deals"  on  the  golf  links. 


ifanager  3  requires  his  cavemen  to  make  daily  reports;   he 
conducts  salesmen's  reetings  every  •reek,   sti-ulates  his  men  by  means  of 
sales  campaigns,   pep  letters  and  contests ,  but  spends  little  time 
helping  his  men  close-  hard  deals,     Manager  1  does  not  require  his  sales- 
men to  make  daily  reports;   he  conducts  salesmen's  meetings. only  once  a 
month,   does  not  make  use  of  sales  campaigns,  pep  letters  and  salesmen's 
contests;   however  ho  does  spend  considerable  time  helping  his  men  close 
hard  deals.     Manager  3  employs  many  methods  of  sales  promotion  such  as 
sales  letter  campaigns,    local  advertising,   and  sales  campaigns  through 
his  salesmen.     Manager  4  gives   little  heed  to  such  indirect  methods  of 
getting  business. 


The  follovin?  table  sumrr arizes  the   strcng  points  of  each  manager, 
in  the  judgment  of  the  investigator. 

TABLE  8:   EACH  liA.lIA.GER ' S  STR01IG  POII'TS  III  HIS  V/CRK. 


Manager's  ilumber 

:    1 

:   2 

:   3 

:   4 

:    5 

:   6 

:    7 

:    8 

:    9 

:    10 

Salesmen's  Reports 

:  X 

:  — 

:  X 

Sales  Letters 

:  X 

:  X 

3reaking  in  Dew  Hen 

:   X 

:  X 

Supervising  Service  Lepartment        : 

X 

:  X 

Working  out  branch  economies            : 

X 

.  X 

> 

Meeting  Competition 

X 

Accounting  System 

A 

X 

Hiring  Salesmen                                       : 

X 

X 

Training  5-lesmen 

X 

X 

Territorial  Analysis 

X 

.  X 

Delegating  Tasks  to  Assistants 

X 

Office  System                                         : 

X 

X 

X 

Social  mixing  with  business  men 

X 

Making  Collections                               : 

A, 

Handling  Men 

X 

X 

X   . 

Sales  Crmpai^ns                                       . 

X 

X    j 

3alec:rv3n's  Contests                               : 

>     « 

X  : 

X 

3up-;rr-isin£  Salesmen                             : 

X 

Salesman's  Meetings                               : 

X  : 

Helping  Men  Close  Deals                      : 

X 

X   : 

Pep  literature                                         : 

X  ': 

:  '■ 

-22- 

C0HCLUSICBT3., 

In  the  introduction  it  was  str.ted  that  a   complete  job  analysis 
holps  solve  the  following  problems  concerning  branch  managers: 
seleotion,  training,  measures  of  success,   organization. 

This  report  contains  a  very  limited  amount  of  data  on  each 
manager's  job,   but  these  data  throw  some   light  on  the  solutions  of  the 
, problems. 

A.   Select ion>   This   study  revoJs  very  clearly  that  in  the   sales 
organizations  other  than- those  represented  by  managers  3  and  1,  ability 
to  handle  financial  affairs  is  a   secondary  qualification  of  a   successful 
branch  mnnager,  whereas  skill  in  managing  nen  is  very  primary.     Some  'of 
the  most  important  qualifications  seem  to  be:     the  ability  to   (1)  get 
nen  to  work     (2)  hire  high  grade  men,    (3)  train  then,    (&)  help  then  close 
deals,    (5)  analyze  the  salesman's  weaknesses,    (6)   shift  his  attention  to 
the  various  phases  of  his  job,    (7)  analyze  the  sales  possibilities  in  his 
branch  territory,    (8)  plan  ahead,   (9)  participate  in  the   social  affairs 
of  business  men,    (10)  avoid  unnecessary  expense  in  managing  his  branch 
office,    (11)  keep   systematic  records,    (12)  try  out  new  ideas,    (13)  write 
sales  letters. 

®*  -7rsin"niv  As  regards  the  construction  of  a  training  course 
for  branch  managers,  so  rainy  concrete  illustrations  of  method  have  been 
offered  that  no  comment  is  necessary. 

C.  Organization.  Table  4  shows  that  the   organizations  : 
represented  by  the  Tollovinr   six  managers  are  more  highly  centralized 
than  the  other  four:     Managers  4,   5,   6,   Q,0.,srd  X).  This  year  there   seems 
to  bo  a  general  tendency  toward  centralization.     For  example,   some  home 
offices  are  reserving  the  veto  power  over  the  branch  manager's  selection 
of  new  salesmen;    some  firms  are  giving  more  assistance  to  branch  managers 
in  the  matter  of  training   salesmen.     Since  there  are  so  many  variations 
in  the  degree  and  kind  of  centralization,  the  problem  is  raised  of 
determining  in  an  objective  manner  the  most  efficient  system  of 
centralization.     The   same  problem  was  raised  inlir.  H.  G.  Kenagy's 
discussion  of   "Problems  of  Sales  Organization"   in  the  October  issue   of 
the  Service  Bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  Personnel  Research. 

The  homo  office  may  well  take  into  account  at  least  the 
following  three  principles: 

1.  The  home  office  should  give  a ssn stance  on  those  phasee 

of  the  job  which  are  of  greatest  significance. 

2.  Help  should  be  offered  on  these  tasks  which  the  manager 

finds  most  difficult  or  is  performing  in  an  inefficient 
manner . 

3.  Since  the  branch  manager's  job  embraces   so  many  tasks, 

it  seems  feasible  for  the  home  office  to  assume 
responsibility  for  the  performance  of  certain  time- 
consuming  functions,  such  as  makim  collections,  keeping 
accounts  and  writing:  sales  letters. 


-23- 


On  the  basis  of  these  principles,  the  home  organizations  of 
office   specialty  should  assume  more  control  over  the  following  duties: 

(1)  hiring  salesmen. 

(2)  training  salesmen. 

(3)  making  territorial  analyses. 
((.]  supervising  salesmen. 

(5)  training  "branch  managers. 

(6)  making  collections. 

(7)  keeping  financial  accounts. 

(8)  sending  sales  letters. 


This  investigation  has  revealed  wide  divergences  in  the  rrork. 
and  practices  of  the  various  sales  branches.  la  there  one  system  that 
is  best?  What  is,  for  example,  the  best  plan  of  remunerating  branch 
managers,  or  salesmen?  What  is  the  best  system  of  using  "Junior"  sales- 
men? What  kinds  and  degrees  of  supervision  should  the  branch  manager 
receive  from  his  home  office?  What  are  the  standard  practices  of 
agency  management;  or  should  the  local  manager's  judgment  be  his  chief 
guide  ? 

In  the  diagnosis  of  the  weaknesses  of  an  unsuccessful  agency, 
many  general  managers  try  out  first  one  possible  remedy  and  then 
another,  hoping,  with  each  change,  to  eliminate  the  cause  of  the  agency's 
failure.  In  doing  so,  they  are  like  the  unskilled  automobile  owner  who, 
when  his  car  fails  to  "work",  tinkers  tilth  any  parts  of  the  machine  upon 
which  he  can  lay  his  hands.  If  the  difficulty  is  not  quickly  located, 
he  calls  upon  the  expert  mechanic  for  help.  Before  the  mechanic  "fixes" 
anything,  he  makes  a  careful  diagnosis  of  the  trouble,  step  by  step.  He 
then  quickly  makes  the  needed  repairs. 

In  the  same  way,  the  sales  manager  needs  a  systematic  method 
for  the  scientific  observation,  analysis  and  vei?-hing  of  facts  about  his 
agencies,  in  order  to  deal  accurately  with  situations  arising  in  the 
organization.  The  "job  analysis"  method  followed  in  this  report  has 
been  developed  to  help  in  the  filling  of  these  needs. 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  SO  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $I.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


APR  10  1936 


DEC  4 


13ZL 





DEC    81982 


JW0  8  A8- 


